Giving the loudspeaker row a ‘civilizational angle’, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma  stated that it was a duty to shut down anything causing problems to communities/students in a secular state. “Our civilizational value has been under attack for quite some time. So if there’s a genuine demand around exams (to not play loudspeakers), don’t play it… in a secular state, it’s a duty to shut anything irritant to students/other communities,” the CM said.

The Assam CM also expressed concerns about how the state has always been a ‘hot bait’ for fundamentalist activities adding that they have demanded the Centre to ban the PFI & CFI for their alleged involvement in the same. “If you see in the last decade, there have been several attempts by fundamentalists to create a base in Assam with the help of their sympathizers but Assam Police have so far acted well. We’re looking parallelly whether PFI & CFI are linked to fundamentalists & jihadis. I cannot confirm, but we have already requested the Centre to put a ban on PFI & CFI for their fundamentalist activity,” he said.

Himanta Biswa Sarma also hailed the state police for their swift action that thwarted several attempts by fundamentalists to create a base in the state. He also informed that the state acted upon the intelligence inputs from central agencies regarding the presence of jihadi elements.

“There’s an integrated action amongst states against jihadis. We got inputs from central agencies regarding presence of jihadi elements & have acted upon that; probe underway. I’m confident more people will come to light with some nexus with jihadis,” the CM further added.